The Efren Martires Command said today that the NPA carried out a successful tactical offensive in Brgy. Cagbana, Burauen, Leyte last March 12. “According to the report from the Mt. Amandewin Command, five soldiers were killed in action and two more wounded in action in the ambush, all of them from the 19th Infantry Battalion,” said Ka Karlos Manuel, EMC spokesperson. “The NPA was also able to confiscate two high-powered rifles. This belies the 8th Infantry Division’s claim that it was an encounter and that some Red fighters were wounded.”

Manuel also said that the NPA tactical offensive is a slap on the Armed Forces of the Philippines which recently boasted that Leyte is “insurgency-free”. “The AFP is lying to the public to conceal its battlefield losses and to make its Oplan Bantay Laya seemingly successful. However, the best proof that the NPA is growing stronger is in the rising tactical offensives in Eastern Visayas and throughout the country. Many more people are now supporting the NPA because they desire genuine change and they want to get of the fascist, corrupt and puppet Arroyo regime.”

The EMC spokesperson also called on the 8th ID to respect the rights of civilians. “Many families in Brgy. Cagbana have evacuated because of the 8th ID’s continuing military operations. The peasants are unable to make a living and now suffer even more from the socio-economic crisis. The 8th ID is violating the rights of these civilians with their military operations even though the NPA had already withdrawn from the area after the battle. It is not the NPA but the 8th ID instead that is causing mass evacuations and a climate of fear in Brgy. Cagbana.”#